I bet you didn’t think you’d ever be reading Nick Pivetta’s name mentioned in the same sentence as Roger Clemens, did you?
Pivetta etched his name into Red Sox lore in Thursday night’s series opener against the Tigers, matching the great (and should be Hall of Famer) Clemens (whose number 21 should absolutely be hanging in right field, by the way…) for the most consecutive strikeouts in a game with eight.
“I was just kinda focused on the game,” said Pivetta, who claimed postgame that he had no idea he had matches Clemens for the team record. “(The) Red Sox have been around longer than I have. I’m sure there’s a ton of team records to beat up there, but yeah, it’s cool to do.”
NICK PIVETTA WITH HIS 8TH STRAIGHT STRIKEOUT!
— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) May 30, 2024
TIES ROGER CLEMENS FOR THE FRANCHISE RECORD! pic.twitter.com/LV4yyy23DX
The comparisons between Pivetta and Clemens will — and should — definitely end right there. But it’s another example that the 31-year-old right-hander is capable of pitching at a dominant level when he’s at his best, as he’s been for most of this season.
Pivetta’s stuff was even good enough to impress his counterpart Jack Flaherty, who himself struck out nine while carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh inning.
“Nick’s a stud, man,” Flaherty said. “He came out, he shoved, did his thing.”
Pivetta would log only one additional strikeout and finish his night having allowed a pair of runs — an Akil Baddoo solo homer in the fifth inning and a Mark Canha RBI single in the sixth — while tossing 92 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.
“He was really good, he was really good,” Alex Cora said. “Today he was able to use all his pitches, elevate it, extend it with the sweeper.”
He fell two outs shy of recording a quality start, but Pivetta’s effort was more than enough to put his team in position to go out and win the game.
Boston’s bats, however, had other plans…
Offense down for the count again
Cora issued a challenge to his team following Wednesday’s loss that sealed a series loss in Baltimore.
“We got a big series this weekend with the Tigers for bragging rights,” he said. “So, let’s win the series and be happy in the household.”
Cora, who even channeled Bill Belichick by saying they were “on to the Tigers,” was of course making reference to his brother, Joey Cora, who serves as the third base coach for Detroit. Nonetheless, he laid down the gauntlet by imploring his team to “go win the series.”
They answered by stumbling out of the gate, taking one on the chin in a lifeless 5-0 loss, their fifth in seven games to again drop under .500 at 28-29.
Boston’s bats managed just two hits — the first of which didn’t come until Rob Refsnyder broke up Flaherty’s no-no with a single with one out in the seventh — and is averaging 2.7 runs during this seven-game stretch.
Rob Refsnyder breaks up Jack Flaherty's no-hit bid in the 7th pic.twitter.com/7CesZNWQTB
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 31, 2024
“It’s one of the best against us, and today we were off balance,” Cora said postgame. “They got a good pitching staff. They’ve been pitching the whole season. Tomorrow (Friday) we’ve got to come here and make some adjustments, try to get the lead and go from there.”
It was the fifth shutout of the season for the Red Sox’s offense. The power outage continued as Boston failed to record an extra-base hit for a second straight game following a streak of 38 consecutive games with one.
Martin finally gives up a May run
Chris Martin, who we last heard from whining about bunts being a part of baseball after his verbal spat with a first base coach last week in Minnesota, didn’t do much to help Pivetta’s cause, either.
The usually reliable right-handed reliever finally gave up a run in May in the second-to-last game of the month after hanging zeroes in nine prior outings. Martin was roughed up for three runs on four hits — including a pair of homers — with two strikeouts in one inning of work that saw his season ERA balloon up to 4.22.
Aside from Martin, Boston’s bullpen pitched commendably. Greg Weissert, Cam Booser and Chase Anderson combined to allow just one hit with no walks and three punchouts in 2 2/3 innings.
“We didn’t do much offensively (to help them),” Cora said. “Weissert did his job, obviously with Marty they put some good swings on it, but going back to Nick, he was tremendous.”
On the whole, Boston’s pitchers struck out 14 batters — one shy of their season high of 15 against Tampa Bay on May 14th.
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.